The Rockpile gets smashed by an Anvil

Anvil showed up at The Rockpile for two shows to launch their new North American tour. They brought along a couple of other bands. Just as I arrived, Down the Void was just getting on stage to fill us with some sludgy Metal. They were heavy and odious that seeped into your pours. They were even young college girls screaming for these over partied and weary Metal heads. They played most of their material from their 2017 CD, The Midnight Sun. They did provide some new material that they were getting ready to release. It was more streamlined and a little cleaner that a rusted oil can with last night pizza experiment. At one point the drummer came out from behind his kit to reenergize the band and audience that wanted to party, but I feel they were saving their energy for the main freak show. They finished their set with a hearty drum solo and the same screaming girls that were truly there to support their band.

Here are a few images from Down the Void’s performance:

Next up was a highly organized
band bent on pure intensity. They CAYM, they saw, they kicked ass! CAYM was
here to truly have fun and to prove they were going to be moving up the food
chain in the world of Heavy Metal. Their speed and precision was like, if you
were a dime and lying on a subway track with a rush hour train approaching, you
would be flattened beyond repair. That is what this band was trying to do. They
also did a drum solo; it was clean, precise and fast!

The lead singer reminded me a bit of Grizzly Adams, but he would be eating the bears instead. Near the end the singer even got himself positioned for a great selfie. I usually ask myself, would I go out and write about this band again, and the answer is Yes! I would love to see a full set done by these guys, because they did not let up once, and even I was getting tired watching the velocity they kept throughout their set.

Here are a few images from Caym’s performance:

Finally, I finally have come to
witness a band that has persevered about 42 years of power punching metal and
still look good doing it. The band hit the stage and immediately Lips went into
the audience to commune with his people. These were new fans as well as fans
that have been there since the beginning. With the glorious return to stage the
band stuck to some of their early material like 666, and Oh Baby along with,
Bad Ass. This is a band that simply does what they want and they do it well.
Not only do you get a solid Metal show but you truly feel you have been
entertained without all that fire and brimstone crap that seems to follow most
Metal bands.

This was a party, a celebration
of music and a band that still has a loyal following. Lips went into great
details about the early days when they use to open for Motorhead. I love a good
Lemmy story. I will just have to let you go there, because if you want to hear
some great early Metal stories, go to a freaking Anvil show! Lips does have a
lot of stories to share, he is 63 years old after all. He still looks like a
big old Metal teddy bear that has been kicked around by a bunch of demented
kindergarten brats. Another reason to celebrate is the fact that Lips no longer
delivers food for a living. I believe the documentary on Anvil shifted gears
for this band, so they are finally enjoying some just desserts.

Other worthy notes about this vigorous
show are the fact that there was another drum solo, by yours truly Robb Reiner.
He was clearly the best of the bunch! I also found it funny that Anvil was
doing a new song called, “The Bitch in the Box”, a song about today’s world
relying on their devices to do just about everything. With that said, a good
chunk of the audience was recording the show on their phones. Hmmm? Finally I
got to witness Lips go into a guitar lead and do it in a slide guitar style. By
that I mean, the prop he used to create this sound was a vibrator. That would
put a smile on just about anyone’s face.

Well of course the band finished the evening off with Metal on Metal to a very satisfied crowd. Anvil is ready to embark on a North American tour, and I wish them luck, I hope they get paid. Even more so, I hope they play again in Toronto soon so I can truly enjoy their antics as a fan and not a journalist.